Men’s Soccer: Wilmington (11-5-3 Overall) at #11 Ohio Northern (13-2-3 Overall) — OAC Tournament Semifinals
Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, 4 p.m. — Kerscher Stadium, Ada, Ohio
| Game Program (.pdf) | OAC Tournament Page |
Thursday's Preview: Thursday's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals pit No. 1 seed Ohio Northern against No. 4 seed Wilmington and No. 2 seed John Carroll against No. 3 seed Otterbein … The winners of each game will square off for the OAC Tournament championship on Saturday … ONU defeated Wilmington 2-1 in the team's regular-season meeting on Oct. 19 … The Polar Bears won their ninth OAC Regular Season championship in program history this season and first since 2015 … Northern is seeking its eighth OAC Tournament championship, and first since 2015 … The Polar Bears are ranked No. 11 nationally in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll … ONU is ranked No. 2 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Region VII poll behind Kenyon, which is ranked No. 3 nationally … Additionally, Northern is ranked No. 19 in this week's D3soccer.com Top 25 poll … The Polar Bears are coming off Saturday's 3-0 home win over Marietta that extended their current win streak to seven games and their unbeaten streak to 15 games … The 15-game unbeaten streak ranks second-best all-time behind a 19-game streak in 2016 … Senior goalkeeper Josh Ellis is the reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week … Through 18 games, 17 different players have scored goals for ONU this season, and 22 different players have recorded at least one point … Fifth-year senior Levi King recorded at least one point in all nine of ONU's conference games, closing the regular season with a team-best seven goals, seven assists and 21 points … King is tied for third in the OAC in assists, ranks fifth in points and is tied for sixth in goals … Fifth-year senior Bryan Kern has 18 points on six goals and six assists … Kern is tied for fifth in the OAC in assists, ranks seventh in points and is tied for eighth in goals … Ellis has 32 saves on the season along with a 1.23 GAA and a .711 save percentage in 12 games … Ellis is tied for 10th all-time at ONU with six career shutouts … Sophomore goalkeeper Lucas Hickey has 26 saves on the season with a 1.21 GAA and .743 save percentage in 10 games … King has 39 career goals, which ranks seventh on the program's all-time list … King ranks sixth in program history with 106 career points, and his 28 assists are tied for sixth all-time … Wilmington advanced to the OAC Tournament semifinals with Tuesday's 4-0 home win over No. 5 seed Mount Union … Sophomores Nick In'tZand and Alfie Harris and freshmen Sakarias Bahamondez and JJ Riggsby all scored for WC … Senior Elorm Dogbey leads the Quakers with eight goals and 19 points on the season, which rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the OAC … Senior Grant Murray has 15 points on four goals and a team-best seven assists, which is tied for third in the OAC … Freshman Thomas Grimes has started 16 games in goal, posting 64 saves, an .821 save percentage and 0.89 GAA … Grimes ranks second in the OAC in save percentage and third in saves and GAA.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
Goals | Assists | Points | Saves | GAA | ||||||||||||||
1. | King | 7 | 1. | King | 7 | 1. | King | 21 | 1. | Ellis | 32 | 1. | Hickey | 1.21 | ||||
2. | Kern | 6 | 2. | Kern | 6 | 2. | Kern | 18 | 2. | Hickey | 26 | 2. | Ellis | 1.23 | ||||
3. | Shelton | 4 | Parker | 6 | 3. | Parker | 12 | |||||||||||
Winchester | 4 |
Series Record: Wilmington leads the all-time series with Ohio Northern by an 18-13-2 margin, including an 8-7-2 mark in Ada … ONU is 1-0-0 all-time against WC in the OAC Tournament, getting a 2-1 victory in the 2006 championship game … Northern got a 2-1 home win over WC in the teams' regular-season meeting on Oct. 19, which was the Polar Bears' first victory over the Quakers since 2018.
Head Coach Chris Matejka: Matejka is in his fourth season with the ONU men's soccer program … He has an overall coaching record of 43-19-10 for a winning percentage of .644 and is 23-9-4 in OAC games for a winning percentage of .676.